[Mystic]

Opportunity to experience a yearning for past time and place has come to me last week. My son who is a professor in California called me and said that he is attending an AI conference in Singapore in the last week of April 2025 and planning to stay for a couple of days there. It has been a couple of months since I met him in USA and asked him if his mother and myself can join him for some quality time with him from Visakhapatnam and he said why not. I felt very happy looking forward and nostalgic to experience the place with my son as he studied his 1st grade in Singapore before I relocated to USA.

Honestly, it is astonishing that nothing changed visually at first glance with Singapore as far as I am concerned. A lot of developments might have changed in past 2 + decades but for me it looked like exactly the same Singapore with same cleanliness and same discipline every where. Even the Changi airport looked stunningly the same as in olden days except that there were only 2 terminals but now expanded to 4 terminals and 5th terminal in construction (some of my classmates still are working in its construction for decades). We had a high tech immigration walkthrough without any human intervention. I think the e visa and online arrival card which we fill up on line are linked to passport and photo. The camera recognised my face and opened the gate. I wonder if Singapore police can track my movements in this small country of 735 square kilometres wherever I go using AI technology and facial recognition with cameras everywhere.

We stayed at nostalgic Marina Mandarin hotel (The hotel has one of the largest open atriums in Southeast Asia, which rises through 21 levels and is permeated by natural light ceiling. Each of the 575 rooms is accessed from the balconies overlooking the inside atrium, and has amazing views of the Singapore harbour and the city skyline). Being a structural engineer myself, this hotel amazes me with stunning views. We took 2 rooms in the 17th floor and view of atrium inside and skyline view outside is stunningly the same with cleanliness and maintenance as if it is just constructed recently even though it is almost 4 decades old. This hotel has a new name now as ParkRoyal.

For a view of the Singapore skyline, We went around on a river cruise on calm waters and was wondering on why it is always calm. The guide clarified that the Singapore River's end is marked by a massive dam across the Marina channel, which further helps to regulate water levels and create a more stable and calm environment.

As we are strict vegetarians, we relied on Komala Vilas for both lunch and dinner with complimentary breakfast at hotel (only fruits and coffee for vegetarians without egg). I felt nothing changed at Komala Vilas restaurant with the same ambience and menu with same cleanliness which is typical of Singapore template).

We have now Scoot direct 4 hour flight from Visakhapatnam to Singapore. The plane is full on both sides with a lot of tourists.

Old Singapore photos

Changi airport:



Theatres:



Komala Vilas:



New Singapore photos

Park Royal Hotel:











Singapore skyline views from River cruise:









Bird Paradise:













Gardens by the Bay:











Aquarium:









Museum:

This is worth seeing as we tend to learn a lot about the geo politics in this part of the world. The impact of world wars on Singapore is clearly depicted in the form of videos etc. There is a huge presence of Indians in Singapore especially by the Tamilians. One has to be prepared to spend a lot of time here in the museum.

On 9 August 1965, Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent and sovereign state. The separation was the result of deep political and economic differences between the ruling parties of Singapore and Malaysia. Even before the proclamation of the formation of the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963, leaders from both sides of the causeway were mindful that these differences could not be wiped out overnight. At a press conference announcing the separation, then Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was overcome by emotion and broke down. Singapore’s union with Malaysia had lasted for fewer than 23 months.

I saw the video of this emotional break down by the PM.

Night Safari:

Night Safari in Singapore is the world's first nocturnal zoo. Don’t be misled by the word Safari as in east Africa where overland journey to observe wild animals is done.

For all senior citizens, they have trams that take people to big animals and some of the small animals can be viewed only by the 4 trails available. We walked on all the 4 trails to see the small animals and took the tram in the end to see again. The experience of seeing animals at night is unique and I had already seen safaris in east Africa and also in our own Bangalore itself in day time.

We just enjoyed the tour and couldn’t take much photos as we need to have professional cameras to take photos in low light.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[TheStalwart]

Your post brings back fond memories of my visit to Singapore last year. It is such a beautiful and clean country. During my time there, I observed that everyone takes is as their own responsibility to keep the surroundings clean.

Oh and the most astonishing thing I've noticed is that nobody honks. Throughout my stay there, I've never heard a single vehicle honk, not one bit!

Singapore is one of the countries I'd definitely love to visit again!

[ArjunPadmakumar]

Thank you sir for this beautiful thread!
I was living in SG with my family as a kid from 1998-2010 and can relate with your experience about the city state. I am probably your son's age as I was 4 in 2000 as well
I still have fond memories of the immense number of spots the tiny place had, such that even after living for years there will be something new and pretty amazing as well. Weekends in Little India, the tons of parks throughout the city, absolute car spotting heaven that was orchard road. I remember we used to go once in a while to the erstwhile changi beach and see the dozens of SQ planes along with other exotic jets landing at the airport. Sentosa has changed a lot over the years and some residents say, in some ways Singapore isn't the Singapore it was 20 years back. Looking forward to visiting again in 2026/27

[sunnysideup_]

Thank you so much for this thread!
I lived in Singapore as a child from 2000-2006, and the photo of Komala Vilas brought back a rush of memories of our Saturday Serangoon, Mustafa, Perumal Temple prasadham, Komala Vilas routine. What a time!